A Natural History of the Future: What the Laws of Biology Tell Us about the Destiny of the Human Species

by Rob Dunn Narrated by Donald Chang

Overview

A leading ecologist argues that if humankind is to survive on a fragile planet, we must understand and obey its iron laws

Our species has amassed unprecedented knowledge of nature, which we have tried to use to seize control of life and bend the planet to our will. In¿A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life's overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no human activity can annul. When we create artificial islands of crops, dump toxic waste, or build communities, we provide new materials for old laws to shape. Life's future flourishing is not in question. Ours is.

As ambitious as Edward Wilson's Sociobiology and as timely as Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction, A Natural History of the Future sets a new standard for understanding the diversity and destiny of life itself.

Editorial Reviews

Scientific American

Dunn’s absorbing analysis advocates making the most of the few certainties we have.”

author of Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid Thor Hanson

A timely, thought-provoking analysis, delivered in the affable prose that has become Dunn’s hallmark.”

From the Publisher

A fascinating, shocking, and inspiring guide to the future by one of the most creative and eloquent biologists of our time. Dunn’s book is packed full of insight from the latest scientific discoveries about the wonders and troubles of the living Earth.”
 —David George Haskell, author of The Forest Unseen

Speciations in weird urban habitats, viruses chasing hosts around the globe, and the greatest challenge life on Earth has faced for two million years: this is the fascinating and sobering ecology of the Anthropocene.”
 —Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of Kindred

Science

A guide to this complex problem and offers palatable solutions…a clear and important read.”

The Atlantic

Make[s] glaringly clear that we are not in command of what we have set in motion.”

author of The Forest Unseen David George Haskell

Packed full of insight from the latest scientific discoveries about the wonders and troubles of the living Earth.”

Kirkus Reviews

2021-08-26
A stimulating exploration into how the laws of biology can help us “understand the future into which we are—arms flailing, coal burning, and full speed ahead—hurling ourselves.”

Describing the havoc humans are wreaking on the planet is a fertile subject, but this challenging book focuses on what we think we know about nature but don’t. Dunn, a professor of applied ecology, notes that life is far vaster and unexplored than we imagine and that our default approach to nature seems to be an attempt to hold it back. He adds that those who study nature learn by studying isolated systems such as islands, where ecologists learn how species arrive, evolve, prosper, and go extinct. Recently, they have turned their attention to human-made habitats. The largest are farms and cities. Just as new species appear on islands, the same is true in human ecosystems. Rats, mice, pigeons, and weeds are evolving, and eventually each city will have its own species adapted to the local surroundings. Mostly, they eat, uninvited, from our plates, but humans still prefer these habitats. Today, the entire world is becoming a human ecosystem: Wild animals make up just 3% of the vertebrate biomass; domestic animals make up 65%, and the rest are humans. While cutting down forests and paving swamps, humans also began warming the world, which is good for diseases and parasites. In the near future, thanks to our profligate ways, Earth will be more pleasant for insects and microorganisms and less so for humans. “We can find ways to survive…just not forever,” Dunn warns. “Eventually we will go extinct. All species do.” Dealing reasonably with the circumstances requires knowledge and imagination. The author avoids the usual implausible how-to-fix-it conclusion: worldwide cooperation, self-denial, scientific breakthroughs, unpopular (and therefore unlikely) government actions. Instead, he offers a book that is less doomsday prophecy and more excellent primer on ecology and evolution.

An imaginative, sensible education for those concerned with the fate of the Earth.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940177049847
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	11/09/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos